Cola Beale Case: Three Murders, Two Trials, and Appeal

The Cola Beale case refers to the prosecutions of Cola Winborne Beale IV, a Virginia man who killed three people in Hampton Roads during a single week in March 2022. Beale shot his girlfriend Czavi’er Hill in Virginia Beach, burned her home and her dog, then killed the man who helped raise him, Clifton Baxter, and days later shot his cousin Downing Dujuan McLean in Norfolk. Two juries convicted him across separate trials in 2024. He is now serving four life sentences plus additional decades in prison.

Who Cola Beale Is

Beale was on probation when the March 2022 killings began. His record stretched back to 2005 and included convictions for robbery, armed robbery, use of a firearm by a felon, conspiracy, and DUI. He pleaded guilty to the robbery and firearm charges in 2012, served six years, and was arrested for a probation violation in 2019.¹ In 2018 he pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor sexual battery charge tied to a 2005 incident involving a child under 13, and was required to register as a sex offender.²

The Three Killings in March 2022

Czavi’er Hill

On March 22, 2022, Beale shot and killed his 31-year-old girlfriend inside her home on Baccalaureate Drive in Virginia Beach. A Ring doorbell recorded the couple entering the house and arguing before a “pop” sound.³ Hill’s body was later found bound and duct-taped.⁴ Beale stayed at the house afterward and stole property, including a Smith and Wesson handgun he later used in the other killings. In a jailhouse interview, he said he “snapped” because Hill’s parents kept confronting him about his plans with their daughter.¹

Two days later, on March 24, Beale returned with a gas can, set fires inside the home, and burned Hill’s dog alive in its crate. He also set her car on fire down the street. Responding police and fire crews discovered Hill’s body and the dead dog inside.⁵ Beale later admitted on tape that he pulled the dog into the room and intended to set it on fire.¹

Clifton Baxter

Sometime between March 22 and the morning of March 25, Beale went to the home of Clifton Baxter, a 73-year-old Vietnam veteran and retired Cox Cable supervisor. Baxter had been in a relationship with Beale’s mother and helped raise him from childhood, according to trial testimony from Baxter’s sister.⁶ Using the handgun stolen from Hill, Beale shot Baxter in the head as he slept on his living room couch. Baxter’s body was found on the morning of March 25 after a family friend requested a welfare check.⁵

Downing McLean

On or around March 28, 2022, police found Beale’s cousin Downing Dujuan McLean shot dead inside an apartment on Sewells Point Road in Norfolk. McLean had been shot once in the mouth and once in the back with a 9mm pistol. Three other people were inside the apartment at the time of the shooting.⁷ Beale told investigators he killed McLean because he considered him a “liability” who knew about the previous murders. He also told them McLean had been “drunk, crazy and belligerent” and had asked him to kill someone else.⁸

Arrest and Confession

Beale was arrested in Hampton, Virginia, on March 31, 2022. Investigators recovered the murder weapon and bank documents belonging to Baxter at the scene of his arrest.³ He gave a full confession to all three murders. Asked if he felt any remorse, he told detectives, “I don’t feel nothin’ right now.”⁵ In a later jailhouse interview, Beale said that while staying at an Airbnb after the killings he was “plotting who to kill next” and “looking for more people.”¹

Virginia Beach Trial and Sentence

Beale was tried first in Virginia Beach Circuit Court for the killings of Hill and Baxter. On March 20, 2024, a jury convicted him of two counts of aggravated murder (for killing more than one person within a three-year period), abduction, malicious arson of a dwelling, arson of personal property, torture and mutilation of a dog causing death, and two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Three probation violation charges were rolled into the conviction.³

On July 2, 2024, Circuit Court Judge James C. Lewis sentenced Beale to three life terms plus 63 years, which prosecutors described as the maximum permitted under Virginia law. Two of the three life sentences carry no possibility of parole.⁹ The sentence included life for each aggravated murder, a third life term for the arson of the dwelling, 10 years each for the personal property arson and the abduction, five years for the animal cruelty conviction, and five years for each firearm charge, plus time for the probation violations.⁴

Norfolk Trial and Sentence

A separate trial in Norfolk Circuit Court handled the McLean killing. On May 22, 2024, a jury convicted Beale of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of murder. The defense conceded that Beale killed McLean but asked jurors to consider voluntary manslaughter, arguing the shooting happened in the “heat of passion.” Jurors rejected that argument.¹⁰ Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi said after the verdict that Beale “remains a threat to public safety.”⁷

On August 23, 2024, Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise sentenced Beale to life in prison plus five years on the firearm count, to run on top of his Virginia Beach sentences.¹¹ That brought his combined punishment to four life sentences plus additional decades of incarceration.

Appeal and Current Status

Beale appealed his Virginia Beach convictions to the Court of Appeals of Virginia. On June 2, 2026, the appellate court issued a memorandum opinion affirming the trial court’s judgment.¹² Virginia State Police records list his primary address as the Virginia Department of Corrections in Richmond.²

1
WTKR. Man Accused of 3 Homicides in Hampton Roads Admits to Shooting Girlfriend, Burning House Down in Jailhouse Interview
2
Virginia State Police. Sex Offender Registry — Offender Details
3
City of Virginia Beach. Commonwealth v. Cola Winborne Beale IV — Man Convicted
4
WAVY. Man Convicted in Murder of Girlfriend and Father Figure in VB To Be Sentenced
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City of Virginia Beach. Commonwealth v. Cola Winborne Beale IV — Man Sentenced
6
WTKR. Cola Beale To Be Sentenced in Virginia Beach for Murdering Girlfriend, Adoptive Father
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City of Norfolk. Commonwealth v. Cola W. Beale IV
8
WAVY. Norfolk Man Convicted for Murdering Cousin After Two Prior Convictions
9
The Virginian-Pilot. Virginia Beach Man Gets Three Life Sentences Plus 63 Years for Murder, Arson in Days-Long Crime Spree
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The Virginian-Pilot. Man Found Guilty of Murdering Cousin in Norfolk
11
WTKR. Norfolk Adds Another Life Sentence for Convicted Killer Cola Beale on Top of 3 From Virginia Beach
12
Court of Appeals of Virginia. Cola Winborne Beale IV v. Commonwealth, Record No. 1181-24-1